Military History

Theatre of War	Medals	Commonwealth War Grave of Memorial
Palestine	British War & Victory Medals	Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery
Arrived in Theatre	Medal Citation (if app)	SWFHS Area Memorials
After 1 Jan 1916	~	Burton Dassett
Action, Battle or Other Reason Killed	Date and Place Enlisted Date	Other War Memorials
Died as a Prisoner of War in Turkey	After 1 Oct 1916 Bishops Itchington
Place of Death	Previous Regiments or Units
Yarbaschi	Original Service Number Pte 8815

Circumstances Leading to Death (Normally from War Diary)           

Oliver's register of effects records records his death as occuring at Yarbaschi which is near Adana in Turkey. Yarbaschi was the site of a Labour (POW) Camp where prisoners were employed in laying broad gauge sections of the Berlin-Bagdad Railway, which involved much tunnel work, under German supervision.  The working hours were 6am till 11, when the prisoners were given their first meal of bad bread, and from 1 till 6pm after which they had the second and last meal of the day, the bread diet being varied by boiled lentils and sometimes large peas which were called shrapnel bullets owing to their size and hardness.  A little goat’s meat was sometimes mixed with the “soup”, a piece the size of a walnut being the usual ration for each man.  These privations, with unsuitable food and laborious work, ultimately told on the health of the prisoners, who suffered from malaria, beriberi and other diseases and many of them died, including Oliver.

Our theory is that after the war his body was exhumed by the CWGC and sent by rail along the same tracks he had helped to build to his final resting place in Baghdad. The 1st/4th's took part in the allied defeat during the 2nd Battle of Gaza which took place between the 17th and 19th April 1917 and it is highly likely that Oliver was taken prisoner during this battle. The Red Cross received an enquiry from Oliver's mother regarding his whereabouts and the card can be seen below (click to enlarge).

Red Cross Enquiry Card